I hear you, man! I heard the same thing, many times over, in years gone by. The “don’t get an education” argument is really a “don’t use the capacities God gave you” and “don’t make yourself maximally effective in a 21st century American context” argument. And you’re precisely correct that the men who usually make this type of argument do receive an “education,” but their education is limited to what they hear from several close associates who think the same way they do.

Shoot me an email. I’ll help you find the time and resources to go to seminary.

I come from a tradition/denomination where men where actually praised for their lack of education.

I remember, as a freshman in college, telling my pastor that I wanted to go to Seminary, and he told me “Seminaries are usually cemeteries. I wouldn’t waste my time. Just get out there and start doing ministry and you’ll learn more that way.”

Most pastors in this crowd end up listening to the same 3 or 4 guys and repeating them when they preach, so the same weaknesses and doctrinal flaws are perpetuated through a whole generation.

Studying the Bible for myself, independent of these men’s interpretation has been mind-blowing.